Navigation

Connect

We went to Powertex!

We’re so excited for Powertex® to be joining us that two of our team travelled to Studley, Warwickshire to spend the day in a workshop with our fabulous new guest, Tracey and her husband Gary!

Lorna and Sam tell us about their day…

When we arrived we were welcomed with open arms and given a tour of the amazing studio – I mean just look how amazing it is!

Tracey had set up a little work station for us; a table covered in plastic (always recommended), an apron, paper plates, paint brushes, latex gloves, and one of the amazing kits she’ll be bringing to her shows on Hochanda in June, which included cotton fabric, and a mixture of embellishments such as ribbons, wooden shapes and plaster shapes. We had everything we would need to get started.

She started by showing us how to use the Powertex® before we got our hands dirty helping us with simple tips and tricks as she went along. One of the great tips she shared with us was to hold half of your material whilst dipping the other half in the Powertex®, then you would knead and work the Powertex® through the material making sure you cover all of the fibres.

Another thing to remember is to get allof your fabric covered – if you leave any white bits this will not be completely waterproof when it’s dry! I think we were both very surprised at how little Powertex you needed to cover the material – that bottle will definitely last a while!

We listened to all of the advice given by the expert and started out on creating our very own Powertex® masterpieces.

Sam was so thrilled with her work >

After we had the result we were happy with it is really important to let them dry. Tracey did warn us that this could take a couple of hours for it to be touch dry, but due to us only being there for the day we placed them under a hairdryer for about 20 minutes.

After tea and biscuits and learning more and more about how Tracey and Gary got involved with Powertex® and their daily routines and workshops and all the wonderful things they have achieved with the business we got our pieces out of the cupboard ready to decorate them with the incredible pigments.

Once again, Tracey took us step-by-step showing us how to use the pigments and what not to do (always important!) and then let us loose with the pigments. I, Lorna, chose magenta and gold whilst Sam chose to use blue and silver.

Just look at the difference!

Tracey showed us how to use the varnish on the plastic covered table to mix the colour pigment to create a paste. Also advising to add white pigment to create a lighter colour. Now we were ready to add some colour to our art.

One thing to note is to keep your brush flat and gently brush it over the edges of your fabric and embellishments, highlighting the edges to give your piece an aged feel.

Next up was adding the metallic pigment, once again the same process as before and voila! Here’s our finished makes, what do you think of them?

And of course we are proud of them!

We also got the chance to pop out to Gary and Tracey amazing garden to hunt for all the Powertex makes dotted around. We’ve added them all to our Pinterest board just so you can see them

Make sure you watch Hochanda every day 24/7 for lots of fun and crafty demonstrations and inspiration from your favourite guests! You can watch Hochanda live online, Sky 663, Freeview 39 (6am-9pm) or Freesat 817.